The Queen's Baby
by RikoJasmine
Summary: In chess, the queen is much more powerful than the king. She guards and defends him; she is his ace, his might, and his greatest protector. Tough!Hilda/Wimpy!N.
1. A Punch for Luck

Author's Note: I often see Hilda being portrayed as a helpless princess-like character and N as the mysterious-but-oh-so-handsome stranger that sweeps her off her feet, and I wanted a change of pace.

Here's my personal characterization of them. :)

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**The Queen's Baby**

Summary: In chess, the queen is much more powerful than the king. She guards and defends him; she is his ace, his might, and his greatest protector. Tough!Hilda/Wimpy!N.

Rating: T

Warnings: Cursing and possible OOC-ness, depending on viewpoint

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**Chapter 1: A Punch for Luck**

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"Oh, shit!" a voice exclaimed as concrete roughly scraped his elbows. "Crap, I'm sorry!"

"_N, are you okay?"_

Zorua fretted about him as N picked himself up from the ground, reaching up to feel his throbbing jaw and wincing as a stab of pain erupted from the slight touch.

"Ow, ow, ow…!"

This wasn't the way he had been expecting things to turn out. All he'd been doing was investigating a Pokémon battle in the amusement park of Nimbasa City—shifting about amongst the crowd to get a better view of the fighting Pokémon's conditions—and he'd only been vaguely aware of his hand brushing against some kind of cloth material before he spotted something suddenly swung at him and crack violently against the side of his face.

Tears were gathering in his eyes as he slowly sat up. He couldn't recall ever being in this much pain before, and he let out a weak whine at the sharp, unfamiliar throbbing that seemed to be spreading throughout his head and leaving him dizzy.

N was vaguely aware of Zorua threateningly growling as a shadow fell over him.

"Calm down, geez!" he heard the voice from earlier exclaim. "I didn't mean to punch him, okay? Well, maybe I did, but not _that_ hard..."

He felt a person's presence crouch down beside him as he attempted to gather his wits.

"Well, fuck. I seriously thought you were trying to perv on me," the voice—a female's—spoke. N wasn't sure what that meant, but she nevertheless continued, "Crap, I'm sorry, bro! I just felt someone touch my butt and… Uh, well, never mind that, did I break your jaw or something? Here, lemme see…"

He felt her hands attempting to pry his away from his face, and he whimpered as his wound was jostled. He could feel tears beginning to well up at the corners of his eyes, very much not wanting to move at all.

"Oh…! Oh man, are you _crying_? Damn, I must've hit you harder than I thought. I mean, for a guy to actually start crying from getting punched is—"

She suddenly cut off when she finally managed to get a hold of his wrists and force his hands away. N, trembling slightly, cracked his eyes open to look at his apparent assailant.

The sunlight above them was blinding and his eyes were still unfocused due to the throbbing emanating from his jaw, but he could still make out a mass of waved, untamed hair. Long brown curls fell past surprisingly muscled shoulders as wide, vibrantly blue eyes gazed down on him. Her skin was tanned, suggesting that she spent most of her time outdoors, and the sun-kissed shade made the sapphire blue of her eyes startlingly striking. Her lips—slightly chapped—curled upwards into a strangely pleased (and somewhat… _predatory_?) smile when she looked at him.

He dazedly noted that his attacker was actually kind of pretty. At least, in a… wild, outlandish sort of way.

"Oh, damn, _jackpot_!" he heard her whisper to herself. Her voice became a tad bit breathless when she addressed him. "… Has anyone ever told you that you're hella cute?" she asked, leaning closer. Before he could even reply, she continued, "Ah, crap, now I feel even worse… I hope I didn't mess up your face or anything, 'cause _damn_… You're really, _really_ cute…!"

N wasn't sure how to reply to that—she just complimented him, right?—but as soon as he attempted to open his mouth to awkwardly thank her, a fresh wave of pain erupted in his jaw. His hands flew back up to his face as he let out a strangled, muffled cry.

"Nnnggghhhh…!"

That brought the girl before him out of her stupor. N felt her take his arm and assist him in standing up as she cooed, "Aww, poor baby… C'mon, I'll take you to the hospital. It's not that far from here, don't worry…"

Zorua climbed up to claim his usual perch on his shoulder as the girl began leading him out of the park. N was suddenly aware of her hold on him—their arms were linked together as if they were a lord and a lady—and he vaguely wondered if it was normal for people who had just met to be in such close proximity. He didn't have enough experience with other humans to know for sure.

"So, what's your name, sweetheart?"

The girl's voice brought him out of his thoughts. He cracked an eye open and saw her looking up at him with an unfamiliar expression on her face; she was smiling, but an eyebrow was quirked upwards as if she were questioning something. He had the inkling that she was trying to communicate _something_ to him, yet he still didn't know what to make of it.

Nevertheless, as to not disrupt his injury while still being polite, he barely whispered, "My name is N."

"En?" she wondered out loud, tilting her head to the side until her eyes widened in realization. "Oh, _N_! Like the letter, right?"

He gave a short nod of confirmation, and she then smiled at him with such a sudden, lovely, beautiful brightness that it left him momentarily stunned. He blinked at her, confused yet enthralled with the sight.

No one had ever looked at him that way before.

"I'm Hilda," the girl introduced herself with a grin before reaching up to curl a lock of his green hair around her finger. "You're gonna be my baby now, okay, N? I'll take good care of you from now on, so no worries!"

"W-wha…?" he stammered, staring at her with wide eyes.

"Aww!" she exclaimed, wrapping an arm around his waist as they walked and sporting an oddly excited look. "You are so cute. I could just freaking eat you, seriously…"

He was pretty sure that humans had not become a cannibalistic society—and he really, _really_ hoped he was right—so he hadn't the faintest clue to what she meant by that. N was unable to do anything but allow the girl named Hilda to drag him to the nearest hospital to get his jaw checked out. Hilda now didn't seem very concerned with the fact that_ she_ was the one who inflicted the damage in the first place; rather, she looked quite content with him on her arm as they made their way down the sidewalk.

He couldn't figure out why.

"_I've got a weird feeling about this, N…" _ Zorua mumbled lowly into his ear.

While he reached up to run a placating hand over his friend's fur, the young man wasn't aware that the pain from his jaw was slowly ebbing away. He could only feel Hilda's warmth pressed against his side and the surprisingly strong hand that was now situated at his waist.

Even if he wanted to, he couldn't have run away. N had no idea that from the moment she'd looked at him, Hilda had claimed him as her own.

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A/N: More to come. XD


	2. Just Act Natural

A/N: Thanks for reading, everyone!

... I realize I'm being pretty liberal with the characterizations here, so sorry in advance for any factual inaccuracies. I haven't played Black/White in a really long time. XD

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**Chapter 2: Just Act Natural**

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"So, is N short for anything?"

The young man glanced up at Hilda, who was sitting across from him in the Pokémon Center lobby. She sat in a slouched posture against the bench, her feet nonchalantly propped up on the table between them, and her boots—which looked as if they'd seen better days—were getting the surface rather dirty. A few people passing by sent her disapproving looks, but she just waved at them and sent an impish grin in response.

N slowly lowered the ice pack that he'd been nursing against the side of his face and softly replied, "Natural."

"Eh?"

He repeated, "N is short for Natural."

She gave him an odd look, saying, "Huh. I think I'd prefer being called N, too. No offense, of course, I'm sure your parents knew what they were doing…"

"I named myself, actually," N informed her. At her questioning look, he explained, "Natural, as in 'natural number', referring to the set of positive integers or the set of nonnegative integers, the latter including zero. It has been disputed for some time whether or not to include zero in the set of natural numbers, due to the fact that—"

"Uh…" She coughed, cutting him off. "Sorry, babe, haven't been to school in forever. I'm not much of a math person anyways, so I've got no idea what you're talking about."

"Ah." He blinked at her. "I apologize, then."

"It's cool, it's cool," she assured, waving dismissively. Hilda then raised her eyebrows, giving him what seemed to be an approving smile. "But still, props. Haven't met many people that've named themselves."

"Pardon…?" he asked softly, not understanding her phrasing, but it must've been too quiet as she didn't seem to hear him. Distractedly petting Zorua with his free hand, N then inquired, "And what of your name?"

"What, Hilda?" she responded. She casually leaned back and propped her arms along the back of the bench, saying, "It means 'battle'. I was named Whitlea at first, but my daddy changed it. He said that I punched him in the face the first time he held me, and he knew right then and there that I was gonna be a fighter." She laughed when N frowned slightly and rubbed at his jaw, pressing the ice pack there again.

As she soon became interested in the dismal state of her baseball cap, N took a moment to silently examine the girl in front of him. Hilda's posture—sprawled against the bench with dirty boots upon the table—was unladylike in the best of terms, and yet for some reason, it looked as natural as a Pidove flying. Her curled hair was unbrushed and tangled in its sloppy ponytail, but he didn't really notice until he was looking at her up close. Hilda had her pink and white cap in one hand, and she was unconcernedly picking off small pieces of dirt and leaves from it with the other, flicking them to the tiled floor without a care.

Anthea and Concordia never acted this way, as far as N had ever seen. He'd had minimal contact with female humans during the course of his life, but he got the distinct feeling that women did not normally act as Hilda did. He just had a hunch.

The girl in question snorted loudly as a boy entering the Pokémon Center tripped and fell flat on his face, immediately cupping a hand around her mouth and calling out, "Fail!"

What to make of this odd girl, N was still undecided. He continued his observations silently.

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A/N: The next chapter will be longer.


	3. The New Guy

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A/N: *cricket noises*

… You guys are so quiet. O_O

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**Chapter 3: The New Guy**

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He wondered why he'd stayed.

Hilda was a Pokémon trainer, as N had just discovered not long ago. Why hadn't he seen the Pokédex crudely shoved in her pocket, or the customary assortment of Pokéballs attached to her belt? He'd certainly noticed the ones secretively stored underneath some rumpled shirts when she'd opened her shoulder bag to fish out some training equipment, that was for sure.

He knew the rules; trainers were only allowed to carry six Pokémon at a time. Hilda had quite a few more than that, and when he'd questioned her about it, she'd just grinned at him.

"_Rules aren't my thing, honey."_

Having a complete team of six Pokémon was bad enough, but having even more? It should have angered him, enraged him, even—those poor, innocent Pokémon, trapped within the restricting confines of Pokéballs and forced at any time to fight for their trainer's sick amusement. They would be left to nurse their wounds alone, imprisoned, only let out to battle again and again until their bodies could take no more. To the point of death would they fight, not for their trainers, but for their very lives. At that point, it was no longer a game; they fought for their survival.

There was no winning in battling. Loss was all that could be gained in the end.

He knew so many Pokémon that had suffered this fate and far worse—dear friends that suffered and endured atrocious pain all because of humans' selfish, disgusting whims—and he would do anything for them. He loved his friends more than anything.

So, N wondered why he'd stayed with Hilda. She was a Pokémon trainer, a trainer that possessed more Pokémon than was even allotted to her, more Pokémon that had to suffer because of her.

He could have easily left, walked away, never to see her again. There was surely something more important that he could be attending to than tagging along beside a delinquent Pokémon trainer.

So why did he stay?

"The fuck, man? A Sewaddle could punch harder than that!" he heard Hilda's voice yell out from across the field. "C'mon, put your big boy pants on and _hit me_!"

N, quietly observing the training session from underneath the shade of a nearby tree, knew that a Sewaddle couldn't actually punch at all—its tiny feet were made for crawling and inching along and nothing else, really—but that was perhaps the point. The Pokémon that she had been antagonizing (a tall, built Sawk with a seemingly permanent scowl) seemed rightly angered and immediately charged her with a determined fire behind his dark eyes.

The sight of a riled, attacking Sawk was surely frightening, but Hilda just laughed and got into what seemed to be a battle-ready stance. Even from far away, he could see that she was sporting a grin as she nimbly dodged what must have been a bone-shattering swing of the Sawk's fist.

It went on like that, Hilda dancing away from attacks as her Pokémon tried to land a hit on her. N found himself sucking in his breath when a Brick Break came within just a hairsbreadth of her face. After a rather nerve-racking series of close calls, they switched roles, Hilda going on the offensive as her Sawk dodged. They soon fell into what looked to be a comfortable pattern; it was obvious that they'd done this plenty of times before.

Occasionally, Hilda would stop and put her forearms together in front of her like shield—she was wearing some sort of sturdy-looking braces to protect herself—and allow the Sawk to punch the handmade target.

"That's it, honey! You'll be having one-hit KO's soon enough!" she praised with a wide grin, undeterred by the rough hammering her only defense was taking.

N wondered just how physically strong she'd have to be to take the force of a fighting type's blows with steady feet and a sure, confident smile.

He'd never seen a trainer actually physically _fight_ their own Pokémon, for practice or anything else. He'd never thought of doing that before himself, even, using his body to measure the development of his partners personally. On one hand, it was quite innovative, and on the other, very reckless. Did other trainers do this as well, or was Hilda just… special?

He frowned to himself. She couldn't be that special… Unique, perhaps, but not _special_…

"_Hilda's got guts, huh? Bruce has broken more than one of her bones in the past, but she still trains with him one-on-one…"_

N jumped at the sound of the voice, and he whipped his head to the side to find a large Samurott looking up at him from his relaxed, sprawled position in the grass, lazily basking in the sun as his trainer focused on his teammate a few yards away.

"Oh, hello!" N breathlessly greeted, smiling eagerly. Hilda had let out all of her Pokémon into the field—even the illegally-possessed ones—before beginning training, and he'd soon found himself being blearily stared at by several pairs of eyes when he'd loudly proclaimed all that was wrong about being owned and tried to make friends with them. He had been promptly ignored.

N was surprised. He usually made friends with enslaved Pokémon so easily.

This was the first time that one of Hilda's Pokémon was actually willing to speak with him, and the young king was going to use this opportunity to find out just what kind of trainer she really was.

"_Huh. You're a weird human,"_ the Samurott commented, stretching his claws in the grass with a wide yawn. _"Preaching about how battling is bad, and what's more, you can actually understand me. How odd. I would have thought that Hilda would pick someone more like herself to be her mate…"_

In defense, N was right about to launch into another explanation about the horrors of Pokémon battling, but his thoughts sputtered to a sudden stop with the last portion of the Samurott's sentence.

"M-mate?" he stuttered with wide eyes, a blush seeping into his cheeks at the very word. "How…?"

"_You didn't know?"_ The water type sighed deeply, blades of grass rustling underneath his snout at the rush of air. He frowned disapprovingly at him. _"A clueless one, then…"_

"_Clueless!"_ a Chandelure parroted with a giggle as it floated by overhead. _"Clueless, clueless man-child with our mistress…! Silly, silly man-child…!"_

"_Our Hilda is a force to be reckoned with, boy,"_ another voice stated. N looked into the tree branches above and saw an Archeops perched there, staring down at him with a critical eye. He ruffled his feathers importantly and continued, _"Hmph, far too scrawny… You hardly match her build at all. There must be something else that drew you to her."_

"_Geez, guys, chill out,"_ an Eelektross lying nearby interjected with a mumble, sounding half-asleep and a bit disgruntled_. "Hilda'll get tired of this weird preacher guy soon enough and move on. He can't possibly keep her interest for long…"_

That was something the entire group seemed to agree on, nodding to themselves accordingly. N suddenly felt trapped and confused; what on earth had just happened? They'd just ganged up on him as if it were completely natural… He distinctly found himself mentally wishing that Zorua were present to help explain his cause, as it seemed that they just didn't understand. Maybe hearing it from another Pokémon would help?

Well, whatever they were going on about, it looked like Hilda's team disapproved of him for some reason. He got the peculiar urge to defend himself, although what against, he didn't know.

"S-so…" N's voice was small as he decided to go with his original plan, hoping that he wouldn't be shot down and ignored again. "Do you… do you all like Hilda? Does she treat you alright?"

"_Of course we like her. Hilda treats us exceptionally well,"_ the Samurott calmly answered him. _"We've grown much because of her help. There's more of us than there should be, but she's loved and raised each of us as individuals. It's difficult to take care of so many Pokémon, especially fully grown ones as we are, but she's pulled it off quite well, I think. I'm glad to be with her."_

The young man stared at him. He stuttered, "H-how is that even possible? You're… actually _happy_?"

"_Without a doubt."_

N searched the water type's face with large, disbelieving eyes, trying desperately to pinpoint any sort of uncertainty or brainwashing. He found none.

Pokémon never lied, and for once in his life, it worried him.

"_Why do you look so surprised, Green One?"_ a nearby Leavanny inquired, tilting his head to the side and twitching his antennae in curiosity. _"Isn't that what all decent trainers should do? Ah, well, perhaps not all trainers get as involved as Mistress does. Why, I remember when I was just a grub, she would allow me to practice my Razor Leaf on her just to make sure it was sharp enough!"_ The bug wriggled about, looking both anxious and admiring_. "It always worried me, hurting her, but the cuts never seemed to bother her even the slightest! She's always been so encouraging, so loving...! I evolved only a day after becoming a Swadloon; oh, how I adore her! What a strong human Mistress is, to put herself in harm's way for the benefit of our growth—!"_

"_Elvis, you're overwhelming the boy,"_ a well-groomed, rather elderly Stoutland interrupted with the flick of his thick mane. The Leavanny ducked his head embarrassedly as the aged normal type turned an observant eye to N. _"But you surely understand, don't you, child?"_ he asked. _"We are in no need of saving. Your principles are noble, and I respect what you are telling us, but it is not needed here. We are quite content to be with our dear Miss Hilda, for better or for worse."_

"… I…" N was at a loss. He looked around at the Pokémon watching him and admitted almost reluctantly, "T-this is something I've never seen before. I've never met Pokémon that are wholeheartedly happy with being enslaved; it's undocumented, unbelievable…!"

"_Being enslaved is a rather barbaric way to put it," _the Stoutland stated. At N's confused expression, he explained, _"This is a partnership, child. These relations are to be of trust, of friendship, of love despite all obstacles. Humans set out to become trainers not only to raise the strongest Pokémon, but to raise themselves in the process." _The Pokémon's wise dark eyes looked at him with a benevolent patience. _"It is a mutual bond, child. We grow to be the best we can be, and so does our human. It's a shared path to adulthood, to maturity. We grow together as partners, as companions. As friends."_

N didn't know what to say. That was his ideal world, summarized and explained so easily…

"_Or, that's the way things should be," _the Samurott spoke. _"True, there are abuses in the system, but that is no reason to condemn everyone."_ The water type's gaze then settled on him. _"Judging from what you've been telling us about battling, I can assume that you've only had contact with the bad trainers. Is that right?"_

"… Only with their Pokémon," he confessed, looking off to the side awkwardly. "I grew up with abused, hurt Pokémon all around me. All my life, I've been told their stories, and they've known nothing but pain and misery! They are my friends, my dear friends… and I want justice…! I want to change the world for them! How can I believe that there are kind trainers out there when all I've known is my friends' pain?"

"_There's evidence of kindness right in front of you, boy!"_ the Archeops overhead squawked indignantly. N looked up at him, shocked. _"Look around you; do these Pokémon look abused to you? I think not!"_ He snapped his beak impatiently as the others nodded in agreement. _"We are happy. We are healthy. We are strong! Our Hilda certainly isn't the most cultured girl in Unova, but there is no one else in the world's entirety that I would accept to be my human!"_

"_Here, here…"_ the Eelektross from earlier agreed sleepily, raising a lazy flipper into the air in acknowledgement.

The Chandelure floated by again, chanting in its hollow voice, _"Only Mistress, only Mistress, only the lovely, lovely Mistress…!"_

As the other Pokémon lounging in the field began chiming in, all throwing in a word of praise and affection for their trainer, N glanced down at the ground with a bewildered expression.

How… how was this possible? He ran a shaky hand through his hair, anxious and disbelieving.

These Pokémon… They were happy. _Happy_.

How?

"Huh, you guys are loud! And here I thought you'd all be sleeping by now." Hilda's voice was steadily approaching them. "What's all the commotion about?"

N glanced up and saw the girl walking towards the tree where they were situated, her thick hair in a haphazard disarray atop her head and wiping a dirty washcloth across her sweaty forehead as she grinned at them. Her Sawk followed behind her silently, looking rather surly as he rolled his shoulder with a scowl.

"_Mama, Mama!"_ Two Deinos—the only Pokémon amongst the group not being evolved—rushed over to Hilda, chirping and burbling happily as they tripped over their stubby feet to get to her. The rest of the team looked on in amusement as they nipped at her fingers affectionately. _"Mama!"_

"Aww," she cooed, leaning down to let them gnaw on her arm guards with their sharp dragon teeth. "There's my widdle babies…! Yes, you are! Yes, you are…!"

Noticing N's wide eyes at the scene, the Stoutland shortly explained with a chortle, _"Egg-hatched. How refreshing it is to see the energy of youth..." _

He blinked. "I-I see."

"Now, what's been going on over here?" Hilda asked the group, standing upright and putting her hands on her hips. Her gaze landed on N, and the corner of her mouth curled upwards. "They're all excited 'cause of you, aren't they?" she asked knowingly. "Having a new face around's always interesting. You been talking to them or something?"

"… Ah, yes," he informed her, his gray eyes darting from side to side. "They've been… erm, enlightening."

She tilted her head with an indulgent smile. "Oh, really? What'd they say?"

N was confused for a moment—Hilda didn't seem surprised that he could speak with her Pokémon, while he'd quickly discovered upon his debut into the world that it was a very, very limited skill—but he nonetheless answered, "They're… very eloquent. T-they say that you let them practice their attacks on you. Leavanny told me about practicing Razor Leaf as a Sewaddle…"

"Oh, yeah, I remember that! His Leaf Blade is totally bosses that now, though." She proudly grinned at her Leavanny, who twittered cheerfully in reply. "Actually training _with_ my boys is… It's, like, a team building kinda thing. I mean, I'd be wimpy as hell if I just ordered them around all the time! I mean, what's the point of training if you don't grow… yourself…?"

As she neared the end of her sentence, Hilda's slowly smile fell, but it was instead replaced with a look of confusion and perhaps shock.

"Woah, woah, woah, _wait_." She waved her hands at him. "Elvis actually _told_ you…? As in _talking_…? What the hell, you can actually understand them?"

N blinked. Ah, _there_ it was.

"Yes, I can," he told her. "I grew up alongside Pokémon, so I have been able to hear their voices since I was a child… Can you hear it, too?"

Hilda shook her head, and N found himself feeling rather disappointed without knowing why.

However, her face immediately brightened. "Like, damn!' she said, plopping herself beside him at the base of the tree. "You're able to understand Pokémon? That's freaking tight, babe."

He looked at her blankly.

"_She admires your ability,"_ her Samurott translated, and N gave him a grateful smile.

"That _has_ to be the coolest thing ever, seriously," Hilda continued, laughing as one Deino playfully butted his head against her side as the other attempted to play with the scowling Sawk, who was now unsuccessfully trying to meditate despite the noise.

Hilda then turned to look N in the eyes, smiling at him, and the young king suddenly found his throat becoming strangely dry.

"So, what else did they say about me, baby?" she asked, amusement swimming behind her vivid blue eyes as she gazed at him.

His reply wasn't immediate. N watched as the little Deino beside them clambered clumsily into her lap, and the girl instinctively cradled the infant Pokémon in her arms as if it were the most precious thing in the world. She then pressed a kiss atop its head—pulling away with a loud "Mwah!"—and the baby wriggled its stubby tail and let out a squeak of affection.

N was silent, just observing the two of them with pursed lips. He considered his response carefully, but he could find only one thing to tell her.

"Your Pokémon…" He took a deep breath as she glanced back at him before murmuring, "They… they really love you."

Hilda's grin was blinding.

As she stood up—her baby Deino still being held carefully in her arms—and went around to every Pokémon in her team just to tell them, "I love you, I love you so much, you know that, honey? I know you do," N felt something odd stirring in his chest. It was strange, a peculiar feeling—emotion?—that he'd never before experienced.

What was it? What was this feeling?

He watched as Hilda's Pokémon practically dog piled her with familiar fondness, and despite their surely taxing weight, she only held them close and laughed. It was a pure sound, one that rang across the expanse of the field in unison with the delighted cries and twitters of her Pokémon—her partners, her friends.

They looked so happy together.

N watched the scene with a slight, growing smile.

… Maybe Hilda really was special after all. Perhaps he could make an exception in his cemented doctrine for her and her friends…

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A/N: Please review, if you are so inclined! Thanks for reading!


	4. A Story Under the Stars

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**Chapter 4: A Story Under the Stars**

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"I ran away from home when I was eleven," Hilda told him softly as they looked up at the night sky. She'd spread out her sleeping bag in the grass, and the two of them were lying on it side-by-side. They were rather close together; N could feel her breath ghost against his neck as she continued, "I didn't think it was that big of a deal. I mean, in other regions, kids are allowed to start their journey at _ten_."

"Is that so?" he asked.

N already knew the answer, but he wanted to keep her talking, if only for the want of hearing her voice. The way Hilda spoke was usually so enthusiastic, so loud; right now, however, it was quiet and subdued. It brought out something else in her—something gentle, something refreshingly wholehearted and sincere.

It was nice to listen to.

Her Pokémon slept peacefully around them, her two Deino babies curled against her side as Zorua made a makeshift nest of N's hair. The only sounds filling the night were the sleeping Pokémon's breathing and N and Hilda's quiet voices as they conversed and stargazed.

"Yeah, it's weird, isn't it?" she murmured. "I thought it was so unfair."

"Was that why you ran away?"

She snorted. "Nah, that wasn't it. I was one hell of a brat, yeah, but I was honestly gonna wait."

Hilda grew silent, and N glanced over to look at her. She was staring up into the sky and her eyes were darting about as if she were searching for something but couldn't find it. He thought that it was a startlingly lonely expression for someone normally so lively and bright.

"… You know," she said quietly. "I never knew my mom."

He looked at her in surprise, sucking in his breath. Although they'd already known each other for a week or two, he wasn't at all expecting for her to confide in him…

Nevertheless, Hilda went on, "I was a surprise baby, and she didn't want anything to do with me. She just shoved me on my dad, and he raised me by himself." The corner of her mouth quirked upwards as she said, "He was a young, partying, frat boy kinda guy that only wanted to travel the world and have a good time. He wasn't ready to be a dad, but he took it like a real man and settled down in Nuvema Town to raise me. I always respected him for that."

N slowly blinked and murmured, "He sounds dedicated."

"Yeah," Hilda acknowledged with an amused smile. "Although, he had no idea what the hell he was doing, raising a girl. I've never worn a dress because of him, you know! He thought that jeans and shorts were way better for adventures than dresses were, and really, he was right. He actually told me once, _'You're not gonna be scaling mountains, riding dragons, and kicking ass in a damn skirt, Hilly!'_"

Her voice went down a few octaves and became gruff and manly in a silly attempt to imitate her father's voice, and N found himself trying to suppress a smile. He must've looked funny, as she took one glance at him and laughed.

"Daddy was more of a big kid than anything, but he did what he could," Hilda went on, looking up at the sky with fondness in her expression. N could practically see the warm memories being reflected in her eyes as she spoke. "Luckily, he was a big survival nut, so he taught me tons of survival techniques for when I'd start my Pokémon journey. Tying knots, which plants were safe to eat, the best place to hide from predatory Pokémon, that sort of thing. He taught me some constellations, too…"

She pointed up into the night sky, and N followed her finger to the stars.

"I totally forget their names, though. Too fancy-sounding," she admitted. "Well, except Orion. I named my Oshawott that. Well, my Samurott, now." Hilda glanced affectionately at the slumbering water type, who was lying only a few feet away and snoring lightly. "Orion's the only constellation I never forgot. It was Daddy's favorite, so…" She trailed off for a moment, but soon recuperated and looked to the sky once more. "Sometimes I just like to lie under the stars and remember when me and him did this when I was little. Brings back memories, y'know?"

"I suppose," N murmured.

He and his own father had never done anything so familiar, so he'd take her word for it. He figured that it must've been nice to have those kinds of fond recollections for those lonely rainy days, and he had the quiet, distinct yearning to make his own.

But where to begin, he wondered?

The young man scanned the sky and pointed at one particular gathering of stars.

"If you look at it a certain way, that kind of looks like Zorua," he commented.

Hilda followed his gaze, glanced at Zorua nesting in his hair, and said, "Ha! It does! Oh, hey, what about that one?" She gestured to their left. "Kinda looks like an Unfezant harassing a Venipede. Like, almost eating it."

N took a moment to examine the star grouping before exclaiming with wide eyes, "Goodness…!"

She laughed again. He could feel her body slightly shake beside him as she did so.

"… This is fun, right? It's stuff like this that Daddy did with me," she said, looking at him with an affectionate gaze. N smiled at her, and she grinned in response. "Despite everything, he was a great dad."

"You… you speak of him in the past tense," N noted softly. When her smile fell, he frowned in concern. "Ah, did I say something wrong?"

"Uh, no, you didn't. It's fine, seriously…" she assured him as her voice grew quieter. "Well, I mean… He died a long time ago."

"Oh." He swallowed a little and murmured, "I'm sorry."

"As I said, it's fine." Hilda had a little half smile on her face as she looked at him. "It was an accident. Car crash. Could've happened to anybody…"

Her blue eyes turned downcast for a moment, but they soon returned to his gaze.

"They tried to get a hold of my mom afterwards, but no one could find her. And I'm glad they didn't. Like hell I was gonna live with her, anyway. Bitch didn't give a damn about me…" She pursed her lips before calmly exhaling. "I didn't have any godparents, and Gramps and Grams died when I was just a little kid, so they were gonna put me in the foster system."

"Foster system?" N asked curiously. He'd never heard of it.

"It's where kids that don't have anyone to take care of them go," she told him. "I'm sure that the family that they were gonna put me with were nice enough people, but I wasn't for it. Like, at _all_."

Hilda was silent for a second, but her grin soon returned at full force.

"I was a headstrong little brat, that's for sure," she said with a snicker. "My dad taught me all I needed to know about surviving in the wilderness, and there were still plenty of things around the house that he left behind for me to use. I pretty much had everything I needed for an adventure, I thought, so why didn't I just… y'know, make a break for it?"

He gazed at her in wonder. "… And so you did?"

"Yep," she confirmed with a mischievous glint in her eye. "It was hella easier than I thought it'd be. The night before the people from the agency came and got me, I packed my bag, snagged an Oshawott and a Pokédex from Professor Juniper's lab, and hightailed it out of there." She snapped her fingers. "Just like that! It was almost disappointing, how easy it was."

"D-didn't they look for you?" N inquired with wide eyes. He remembered carelessly wandering off in a city during a Team Plasma tour as a child, only to be swiftly caught by his father's Shadow Triad and brought immediately back to the castle. Ghetsis hadn't been pleased at all, and N still shuddered at the memory.

"Of course they did, babe," she said with a breathy laugh. "But Daddy taught me other stuff, too. Apparently, he'd been on the run from the authorities for a while before having me—knowing him, it's not that surprising—and he learned how to hide his tracks. He'd always said that I'd need that skill if I turned out anything like him. And, what do you know, looks like I did!"

She grinned smugly.

"I looked my name up in the roster a while back. _'Missing, presumed dead,'_ it said. They gave up looking a long time ago. It's been over five years, and I'm still roaming Unova as free as a street Purrloin…"

N looked at her for a moment, his lips slightly parted in wonder. He wasn't sure whether to feel alarmed or impressed. She'd been eleven years old back then, choosing to be her own in the world so soon after her only parent's death, with only a backpack, a single inexperienced Pokémon, and memories to guide her. He couldn't imagine…

Eventually, he inquired softly, "So, it's been you and your friends out here in the wilderness for years, then?"

"Hm, something like that…" Hilda replied vaguely, looking like she was trying to suppress a smirk.

N gave her a slight frown when she didn't elaborate. He eventually asked, "How do you feed all of them? Proper Pokémon food gets expensive, doesn't it?"

Hilda quirked an amused eyebrow at him. "I have my ways, babe. You don't need to know, trust me on that."

He pouted at her, but she just laughed quietly to herself.

"You know, Hilda…" N's voice was soft, and the girl in question glanced back at him. "You… you grew up with Pokémon as your only friends, right?"

"Pretty much, yeah," she confirmed with a slight shrug. "I didn't get along very well with the kids at school, and Daddy was really the only one I liked. After he died, well…" She paused momentarily and continued, "My Oshawott was my first friend, honestly. It was only me and him for a while, though, all alone with nothing but each other in the wilderness, so it wasn't like we had much choice _but_ to be friends." She rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"All… all of my friends are Pokémon. They were all I knew growing up," N confided in a subdued voice, searching her face carefully for a reaction. "They're very precious to me."

"Well, looks like we're in the same boat, then," Hilda replied before smirking at him. "So, what about me, babe? Where am _I_ in that great big heart of yours?" She poked a finger into his side when he began to blush.

"I-I don't know," he shakily admitted, his gray eyes looking at her unsurely. "I… I think you're kind… Kinder than most trainers are. And honest, too… I value both qualities closely, you see…"

"… Hm." She hummed to herself. "Well, that's a start, I guess."

"A… start?"

"You're really cute, sweetheart," she sighed, resting her chin on his shoulder as he continued to look at her confusedly. "A bit clueless, too, but it's cute..."

"I've meant to ask you before, but w-what are you talking about?" N finally inquired, still blushing quite noticeably. "Your Pokémon mentioned before, that you, uh… um…" His voice was almost a whisper. "You want me as your… mate…"

In their close proximity, Hilda was still able to hear him. "What? Mate?" she asked, her eyebrows perplexedly furrowed together before shooting up in realization. "Oh, a _mate_! I get it, I get it…! _Mate_, ha-ha…" She then shot him a lecherous smirk, drawing a finger up his arm and over his shoulder. "Yeah, I want you like that, babe. Is there a problem?"

"I… b-but… _why_?" His voice almost came out like a whine, blushing as she began drawing circles against his chest. "I don't understand."

"Yep. Clueless," she sighed, giving him a fond look.

Hilda reached up and stroked the side of N's face, and he unconsciously took note of how rough her hands were. It suddenly occurred to him that they were hands that belonged to a stubborn survivor of a girl, a rugged youth who took care of not only herself but her Pokémon despite the odds against them.

She was someone who devotedly nurtured and raised and loved her friends with the strength of her compassion. Those hands touched him with a strange, affectionate tenderness that he'd never felt before from another human being.

He found himself leaning into the warmth as she continued, "You don't need to understand right now. We've got plenty of time, darling, so just sit tight. You'll know soon enough."

"…. I…. um, okay…" His eyes glanced to the side, embarrassed.

"You're a special guy, N. I knew it from the start," Hilda said with a bright, affectionate tone in her voice, gently caressing the healed spot where she'd punched him before with a slight smile.

N looked at her again almost hesitantly, frightened that she might be lying, but he could find nothing but truth in her gaze.

She curled her fingers into his hair and told him, "Although I don't know that much about you right now, I already like you a lot. I can't say the same about most other people. It's weird, y'know?"

N couldn't help but think that that was how he felt about her as well; he had half a mind to start believing that this was just a dream, that this girl who genuinely liked him was just a figment of his cruel imagination. It was a frightening thought, that his subconscious was heartlessly dangling precious human companionship— suspending this peculiar yet wondrous girl, _Hilda_—before him only to snatch it away once he'd begun ravenously craving it like a drowning man for air.

N let out a shuddering breath as his eyes closed slowly—he was surprised at just how _afraid_ he felt, thinking that she might disappear the very moment he opened his eyes—but when his eyelids fluttered open once more, she was still there.

"There's just something about you, babe," Hilda thoughtfully continued, unaware of the wonderful relief welling up within him as he fought off the urge to cry. "I can't put my finger on it, but…" She traced the bridge of his nose with a finger and smiled. "I like you."

N, recollecting himself with all his courage despite the fact that his bottom lip was trembling, replied in all honesty, "… I-I like you, too, Hilda."

She looked pleased, but at the same time she tilted her head in curiosity. A few locks of brown hair fell across her forehead as she did so.

N swallowed audibly and his voice was nothing but a nervous mumble as he rambled, "I've… I've never seen anyone else with the kind of bond you and your Pokémon share. There is such trust between you, such love… It's something that I never imagined encountering in this world, as pitiless and cold as it is! You—and your friends, of course—you are… fascinating. Intriguing, _compelling_, even… And I… I find it hard to look away, although I have yet to understand why. I-it's so peculiar, how I feel around you, how difficult it is to think about parting from you…"

Hilda had been listening to his rather hushed and hurried speech with an endeared smile settled on her face the entire time.

"Well, there you go!" she said brightly. He blinked at her as she added, "See? You and me, N, we're _so_ gonna work out…!"

Hilda laughed and grinned at him, tenderly stroking at his jawbone with the calloused palm of her hand. He found that he didn't mind that much. The warmth was lulling and kind, comforting in an unfamiliar but welcomed fashion. It was nice, and he couldn't find it in him to ask her to stop…

"So," she began expectantly, her lips curled upwards. "Are you still gonna be here when I wake up tomorrow, baby?"

N looked at her for a moment before he found himself smiling back, albeit much more shyly.

He sheepishly ducked his head and murmured, "… I-I suppose I will be."

Hilda seemed to find that answer satisfactory, humming "Good," before leaning over and kissing him.

As his eyes grew big and his mind went completely blank, the only thing that N could feel was her smile broadening widely against his lips.

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A/N: Thanks for reading~


	5. A King's Worries

A/N: So my brother bought White 2, and I was inspired to pick this fic up again.

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**Chapter 5: A King's Worries**

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"I'm the king of Team Plasma!" N found himself blurting suddenly. Zorua startled in his lap, and Hilda turned from gazing out the Ferris wheel car window to look at him with surprised eyes.

N tensed in his seat, heat rising to his face, and he could keenly feel Hilda's intent gaze on him as he fidgeted nervously. He cursed himself inwardly; he'd planned on telling her of his status for a long time, but never like this. N had wanted to ease her into the idea of him being Plasma's monarch slowly and carefully to make her understand in the gentlest way possible. He had no idea what her reaction would be, and frankly, it frightened him.

He'd been with Hilda for a little over a month now. Team Plasma was soon making its move; the Shadow Triad had contacted him while Hilda had been away from their campsite obtaining food for the Pokémon, and the normally-silent guards had informed him of the plans being made by his father and the Sages. Everything was coming together, and the time for revolution was approaching swiftly.

N, who had been so eager to take part in Plasma's movement when he'd left the castle, was suddenly unsure about his involvement. It wasn't as if his beliefs had changed—of course they hadn't, if anything, they were stronger than ever—but now that he'd found Hilda and her friends, he did not know how to proceed.

He didn't know what she would think of him after this; she was a Pokémon trainer, and Team Plasma's goals clearly went against the lifestyle that she so treasured. N was unsure of what exactly to call the relationship between them, but this was the longest he'd ever interacted with a human outside of Team Plasma and despite everything, he wanted it to continue. He… cared for her. Like no one else before her, she cared for him in return, and Hilda had grown to be important to him. What she thought mattered.

He was scared, now. N didn't want to have to leave her—or, worse, she might be the one to leave him.

The vision of her face, enraged and spiteful as she stalked away from him, never to forgive or return…

It hurt just to think about.

As he drowned in these thoughts, the silence was finally broken by Hilda.

"So, uh… What about it?"

N paused in his despair, his hands stilling slowly in their trembling. He dared to glance up at Hilda, and she was simply looking at him with a concerned gaze. Her eyebrows were furrowed together as she examined his pallid face.

"You look worried, babe. Are you okay?" she asked, reaching across the space to brush a lock of hair from his forehead. When he didn't reply—instead glancing meekly downwards at Zorua, who was making soft crooning sounds of comfort—she sighed and said, "What, were you afraid I'd freak out or something? Sure, I guess this was pretty unexpected, but it's fine, seriously."

It was his turn to look at her with wide eyes. "Wh-what?"

She shrugged and then smiled at him, saying, "Really, it's not that big a deal. Okay, well, maybe it is, with you being a_ king_ and all…" She grinned and punched him gently on the shoulder. She went on, "Now that I think about it, though, it _is_ pretty cool. It's not every day you meet royalty, so—"

She cut herself off suddenly, gasping with her blue eyes widening as she leaned away from him to fall back against her seat and press a hand against her gaping mouth. N flinched, thinking that she finally realized the enormity of the situation.

"_Woah_," she said, wonder seeping into her voice much to N's confusion. "My boyfriend is a fucking _king_! Holy shit, that's awesome…"

N found himself speechless. Zorua, meanwhile, mumbled from his place in N's lap, _"You picked an odd mate, N…"_

The young man blushed just as Hilda collected herself and looked back at him. She crossed her legs and placed an elbow on her knee, resting her chin in her palm and looking quite satisfied with herself. "I just knew you were a catch, baby," she told him with a smirk.

N just uneasily swallowed. "So…" He looked around again nervously, not meeting her eyes. "You… you aren't angry with me?"

Hilda blinked in confusion. "Why would I be?"

He didn't immediately answer her. Instead, he licked his dry lips and said repeated in a soft voice, "I'm the king of _Team Plasma_. I'm their _leader_."

He glanced at her for a moment to check that she was listening, and he then went on.

"As you know already, Team Plasma is based upon the principle of Pokémon liberation, and the fact that you are a Pokémon trainer yourself… I, well, you see, I was unsure of how you would react to hearing that I am the leader of such an organization that looks down on…" His voice became almost a whisper. "… those with Pokémon in their possession, such as yourself. While I do not contest _your_ custody—as I have seen your relationship with your friends and your great love for one another—other members of Team Plasma may not see you as I do, and…"

He pursed his lips. Zorua butted against his hand, encouraging him to keep going, and he could still feel Hilda's gaze on him.

"… and you… and you, Hilda, are important to me. I have a kingdom, subjects, a _destiny_ in which, as their king, I must fulfill to the utmost of my ability for the sake of Pokémon everywhere, but…" He closed his eyes as he spoke and let his thoughts roll from his lips. "But then there's _you_, Hilda, you whom I have only known for so short a time but have grown to care for so ardently. Forgive me if this seems sudden, but I… I want you to be with me as I change Unova for the better, I want you to stand beside me at the dawn of the new world, and I…

… I was… afraid. Of what you would think when I told you. Because you are precious to me."

N opened his eyes and finally looked at her. To his relief, she was smiling at him, and any trace of bitterness or resentment that he'd initially feared was nowhere on her countenance.

"… Well," she spoke up after a moment of silence. "At least now I know why you talk all fancy sometimes. Did you have to take speech lessons, like in the movies?"

She laughed to herself when he confessed that it was indeed true, his father _did_ have him take lessons in eloquence, and N felt his nerves slowly relaxing at the sound of her good-natured laughter.

Hilda stood up and plopped herself beside him, making the Ferris wheel car rock slightly in the air. By then, their car was steadily approaching the very top of the Ferris wheel; as it reached the peak, Hilda linked her arm with his and laced their fingers together. She then looked up at him with a wide smile.

"I really don't mind," she said to him, resting her chin on his upper arm and looking up at him through her eyelashes. "It's really sweet how you were worried about what I thought, though. A lot of other guys just do whatever the hell they want, and it always pissed me the fuck off how they never even _asked_—" She cut herself off and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. N glanced down at her in concern, but she just shook her head. She went on, "You're easily one of the best people I've ever known, N. Honestly, you're the only other person on this entire planet that I actually give a damn about. So don't ever think that I'd leave you just because you're Team Plasma's leader. Never think that. I love you too much to do that to you."

His heart swelled in his chest at her words. Relieved and joyous tears prickled in his eyes—he often berated himself at how easily he cried, but he made an exception for himself this time—as he turned his head to bury his face into her wild hair, and her scent filled his senses.

He breathed in and admitted for the first time, to both her and to himself, "I… I do believe that I love you in return, Hilda. You are the only human whom I have ever connected with so closely; this time with you is something I have come to treasure… I enjoy your company, your kindness, and I wish not to part with it, certainly not on terms such as these."

Hilda grinned at him and pressed a kiss against his jawline, to which he responded by nuzzling his nose into her hair again. Eventually, she commented, "… Hm. You know, you talk more like a prince or a knight than a king."

N looked at her with a slight frown, but she just laughed and patted his cheek.

"Don't take that as an insult, baby. I was never one for fairytales, but you talk like you're straight from one and I actually like it more than I thought I would." She shrugged, and their shoulders brushed together. She was very warm against his side. "Well, anyway, just know that even if you're the king of Team Plasma, it's alright with me. Even if you're gonna take over the world or whatever you guys get up to, whatever shit goes down, I'll be with you the entire way if you want me to. So, it's fine. It's all fine, so don't worry. I'll be right here."

N smiled against her hair, sighing with relief. Hilda was more than anything he could have ever hoped for.

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A/N: Thanks for reading!


	6. Rain and Fire

A/N: A warning for a horribly cliché playing-in-the-rain scene. I'm actually a little embarrassed to post it, but it was already finished and ready to go, so…

… Well. Please don't judge me too hard.

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**Chapter 6: Rain and Fire **

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"Babe! N, baby, look! _Look_, dammit! It's raining!"

N glanced up from his calculus textbook at Hilda, who had an arm outstretched beyond the overpass that they were taking refuge underneath to let the rain touch her skin. She was grinning as she turned her head to look at him with an excited expression.

"It's raining!" she repeated.

He blinked at her, not understanding what was so thrilling about it. "And?"

Hilda just scoffed, ignoring the question and leaning down to unlace her boots, kicking them off and allowing them to crumple on the ground. She did it in a rush; for some reason, she seemed to be in a hurry.

N was now even more confused. He lowered his book and inquired, "Hilda? Um, darling…? What's going on…?"

He watched as she pulled off her socks and jumped up from her seated position against the wall. He raised an eyebrow when she removed her vest, but N suddenly found himself choking on air when she grabbed the bottom of her white tank top and pulled it swiftly over her head, leaving her torso completely bare except for a black bra.

"W-what on _earth_ are you _doing_?" he cried, a scandalized blush bursting across his face

"_I_," she replied, looking completely unperturbed, "am going to have _fun_. And _you_, good sir, are going to join me!"

N was about to ask—no, _demand_—what she meant by that, but he squeaked embarrassedly and hid his eyes with his textbook when she began unbuttoning her shorts. He heard the jean material being tossed to the side as familiarly rough hands tugged the book away from his face. His only shield was tucked safely away into a niche in the wall, and N soon found himself face-to-face with Hilda, wearing only her underwear and a mischievous grin.

"C'mon, baby, up you go!"

"W-wait, Hilda!" he objected, still blushing madly as she tugged him upright. "W-what's going on—?"

He didn't get his answer. Moments later—after more than a bit of fussing and protesting—N found his clothes joining Hilda's on the ground and himself standing awkwardly, barefoot, in only his boxers. Hilda had just cooed at him when he'd expressed his eternal embarrassment by blushing to the very roots of his hair, and she'd leaned in to press a kiss against his bare collarbone before pulling away and regaining the bright enthusiasm in her eyes.

"Now c'mon, the rain might let up soon!" she exclaimed, grabbing N by the hands and tugging him out from beneath the overpass. "This'll be fun, promise!"

N yelped when he felt the cold rain begin to pelt against his skin, jumping at the sudden temperature change. He immediately began shivering and rubbed furiously at his arms with both hands.

"H-Hilda," he chattered as she led him along further and onto a deserted road. "I-is this truly a good idea?"

"Of course it is!" his love radiantly assured him. Hilda let go of his hand and stretched her arms out skyward as if greeting the dark rainclouds above them, her head tilted back and sporting a huge grin and infectious laugh as she welcomed the rain falling from the sky with open arms. She asked him, "Haven't you ever played half-naked in the rain before?"

"N-no…" It'd never even crossed his mind.

"All the more reason to do it, then! Look, there's a puddle right over there; I'll show you what you've been missing out on!"

N looked on as she ran ahead of him through the shower: she quickly picked up speed, jumped, and splashed in a large puddle that'd formed in a dip along the side of the road. She laughed as the wave of muddy water splattered against her bare legs, doing a silly little dance and kicking playfully at the water, getting completely drenched the entire time and not caring one bit.

Hilda then looked back at him with an excited, untamed grin, raising a hand to beckon him forward with a single curling finger.

"C'mere, baby!" she called out to him through the rain. "This puddle's not gonna jump itself—!"

She suddenly paused—perhaps realizing something—before laughing and shaking her head to herself.

N didn't have the faintest clue as to what she was doing, but he weakly yelled in reply, "Darling, c-can't we go back? It's cold out here…!"

Hilda looked at him again and shook her head amusedly, continuing to smirk and beckon him to her. N whimpered softly and rubbed at his arms once more as she stared at him with an entertained, expectant appearance.

"Oh, _sweetheart_…!" she called out again teasingly, leaning forward and drawing a suggestive finger up her thigh while giving him a rather generous view of her chest. N blushed hotly despite the chilly rain as she continued in a playful drawl, "Honey, pumpkin, cupcake…!"

"H-Hilda…!" he whined, squirming in place and feeling highly self-conscious. "It's embarrassing…!"

She only called back, "I'm _waiting_…!"

Resigned, N pouted to himself, looking down at the wet ground and feeling the most awkwardly discomfited than he'd been a long while. He stood for a moment in silence; his arms were wrapped around himself in a useless attempt to conserve heat, and he was completely bare and vulnerable to the mercy of the weather—save for his pair of now completely soaked-through boxers—and his teeth were chattering in his mouth.

Ever so slowly, he lifted a tentative foot and started forward, trying not to flinch at the uncomfortable feeling of the concrete-paved road against the delicate undersides of his feet. He ended up walking rather gracelessly on the tips of his toes, trying to avoid rocks and other debris.

"You have _no_ idea how sad this looks on my end, babe…!"

N glanced up at Hilda again to see her flipping a mass of water-logged hair over her shoulder and tilting her head to the side with that same expectant and amused look on her face.

"There's no way you're gonna get a splash like that!" she yelled. "Get a running start!"

Now, Hilda did let him get away with avoiding some of her schemes at times, but N had an inkling that he wouldn't be able to get out of this one. He resignedly sighed to himself and squared his shoulders. Dropping his arms to his sides and taking deep breaths with self-assuring mantras chanting repetitively in his head, N steeled himself and sprinted forward through the cloak of rain.

It was a fleeting but exhilarating moment. He hardly noticed the thumping of his heart in his chest, the rough gravel scratching at the soles of his feet, the cool raindrops pelting against his face and body as he jumped up and at last landed in the puddle with a wave of muddy water splashing into the air in his wake.

He could hear Hilda laughing beside him, and he could hear himself laughing, too; her arms wrapped around his middle as she drew the two of them together, front against front, and he could feel her shoulders quaking with laughter and the warmth of her skin despite the cold rain pouring and pouring over them, unending and far more wonderful than he could have ever imagined. N opened his eyes and saw Hilda looking at him with such a breathtaking smile, and he watched beads of rainwater roll their way down her cheeks and grinning lips, joining the rest of the rain as it dripped from their skin and poured to the earth.

Hilda reached up and cupped his face, still grinning and laughing in her usual wondrous way, as his arms went around her waist to hold her closer. Her heat seemed to melt its way into his body, to his very core; being half-naked was the very last thing on his mind despite the tempest, as N had never felt so comfortingly, wonderfully warm before.

Hilda's palms were as calloused and scarred as a war hero's, yet—right here, alone, holding each other in the pouring rain with her fingers brushing away locks of dripping hair from his eyes as her voice teased, "See, I _told_ you this'd be fun!"—N had never been so content.

Her thumbs were idly tracing along his jawline as she tilted her head up and kissed him. He tasted skin and fresh rainwater.

The downpour didn't let up for the rest of the day, and Hilda had taken him by the hand and led the way in their dance through the rain. N followed her willingly, now; the warmth of her hand in his shot up his arm and spread like a wildfire throughout his body, making him oblivious to the blustering cold gale that seemed determined to chill him to the bone. He ignored it—he couldn't recall a time that he'd so blatantly and willfully ignored something so powerful—because it felt like the wild, intense fire that was Hilda could keep him alive forever.

It must have been in the chilled early hours of the morning that the rain had finally subsided, and the water-logged pair had at last retreated back to their makeshift shelter underneath the overpass. They'd collapsed to the damp, misted grass together, arms wrapped around each other and grinning and laughing so hard that N could've sworn that they could have woken up the nearest town miles and miles away.

His heart was beating so quickly in his chest, and he could feel his blood pumping through his body, his arms, to the tips of his fingers. The fire that'd so engulfed him earlier seemed to have seeped into his very veins, leaving him bewilderingly exhilarated with wide eyes and a heaving chest, staring up at the concrete ceiling of the bridge overhead in euphoric amazement.

N had never felt more alive than in that moment, lying on the muddy ground underneath an overpass with Hilda beside him. Dripping locks of her hair clung to his cheeks as she pressed fluttering kisses against his lips, saying with a grin, "… That was awesome. Oh my God, I love you…"

He kissed her back and asked in a dazed murmur, "Could… could we do this again sometime?"

She laughed and nodded in response.

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End file.
